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Apr 9, 2010
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mr. levin? mr. mudd rather. you are not in your head as will. >> i am not in my head because i agree. all of those were factors. >> thank you. i want to turn to compensation for just a second because it's already been touched upon, but i think it's worthy of a little bit further elaboration. during the years of 2000, 2003, the budget, that is the entire budget of your regular range between 19,000,030,000,000. and in all those years, the total compensation of the top four executives at fannie mae and freddie mac exceeded the budget of the entire regulator. i mean, it was 33.6 million in 2000. almost 27 million in 2001. 26 million in 2002. up to 51.59 and 2003. it strikes me that it's sort of towards the ability of the regulator to really play a significant role. would you concur that the regulator really didn't have adequate resources to do the kind of regulation that would because back in a financial institution? maybe mr. levin, since you longer experience at the agency. could you speak to that
mr. levin? mr. mudd rather. you are not in your head as will. >> i am not in my head because i agree. all of those were factors. >> thank you. i want to turn to compensation for just a second because it's already been touched upon, but i think it's worthy of a little bit further elaboration. during the years of 2000, 2003, the budget, that is the entire budget of your regular range between 19,000,030,000,000. and in all those years, the total compensation of the top four executives...
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Apr 15, 2010
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mr. levin: mr. speaker, purr superintendent to the order of the house today -- pursuant to the order of the house today, i call up h.r. 4851 with the senate amendment there to and offer a motion. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill, designate the senate amendment and report the motion. the clerk: h.r. 4851, an act to provide a temporary extension of certain programs and for other purposes. senate amendment, mr. levin moves that the house concur in the senate amendment. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house today, the motion shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the ranking and minority member of the ways and means. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, and the gentleman from texas, mr. brady, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that members have five legislative days to revise and extends their remarks. the speake
mr. levin: mr. speaker, purr superintendent to the order of the house today -- pursuant to the order of the house today, i call up h.r. 4851 with the senate amendment there to and offer a motion. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill, designate the senate amendment and report the motion. the clerk: h.r. 4851, an act to provide a temporary extension of certain programs and for other purposes. senate amendment, mr. levin moves that the house concur in the senate...
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Apr 10, 2010
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mr. levin, you were there longer than mr. mudd. were you ever present at a meeting in which there was a discussion about how a particular member of congress might be approached in attempting to advance "business models" of fannie mae? >> my recollection is, especially in the days that i ran the housing of community development organization in fannie mae, which was the organization -- >> i have very little time. really, a yes or no will be sufficient because it followed up with comments to elaborate. >> i will be short. we made a big effort to try to do important things in communities -- >> i will try again. yes or no? >> and we made -- >> mr. chairman? >> can you answer that question? >> i did ask a minute of time. >> i will give it back. i think it is a fairly straightforward question, mr. levin, about whether you are in a meeting or not and if approaching a member of congress was raised. >> i think yes or no would be appropriate. >> we want it members of congress -- >> that is be on five words. >> come on, yes or no. the answer i
mr. levin, you were there longer than mr. mudd. were you ever present at a meeting in which there was a discussion about how a particular member of congress might be approached in attempting to advance "business models" of fannie mae? >> my recollection is, especially in the days that i ran the housing of community development organization in fannie mae, which was the organization -- >> i have very little time. really, a yes or no will be sufficient because it followed up...
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Apr 28, 2010
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mr. levin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: has the quorum call begun? the presiding officer: yes. mr. levin: i would ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. levin: mr. president, yesterday the senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, which i chair, held the fourth in our series of hearings to explore some of the causes and consequences of the financial crisis. these hearings are the culmination of nearly a year and a half of investigation. mr. president, if i could yield myself ten minutes? the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. levin: the freezing of financial markets in the collapse of financial institutions that sparked our investigation are not just a matter of numbers on a balance sheet. these are numbers reflecting millions of americans who lost their jobs, lost their homes, lost their businesses a in a re
mr. levin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: has the quorum call begun? the presiding officer: yes. mr. levin: i would ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. levin: mr. president, yesterday the senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, which i chair, held the fourth in our series of hearings to explore some of the causes and...
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Apr 20, 2010
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mr. levin: the march 19 letter from the corps. the senator from louisiana said that the example he wanted to use was something called the morganza project. that's the example. he said, let me give you one example. three times he's said the project's been authorized. this is what the corps said relative to morganza. the corps does not have the authority -- this is in writing, a letter to senator vitter, does not have the authority to implement whom the navigation lock, section 425 of wrda, 1996 authorized a study of an independent lock but did not authorize construction. section 425 reads in part, secretary shall conduct a study of the environmental flood control and navigation impacts associated with the construction of a lock structure in the huma navigational canal as an independent feature of the overall damage prevention study conducted under the morganza, louisiana, to the gulf of mexico feasibility study. close quote. the corps conducted a study in response to section 425, but that study did not recommend the construction of
mr. levin: the march 19 letter from the corps. the senator from louisiana said that the example he wanted to use was something called the morganza project. that's the example. he said, let me give you one example. three times he's said the project's been authorized. this is what the corps said relative to morganza. the corps does not have the authority -- this is in writing, a letter to senator vitter, does not have the authority to implement whom the navigation lock, section 425 of wrda, 1996...
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Apr 9, 2010
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mudd and mr. levin. we will now proceed to questioning my commissioners. i will start with some questions today before we move on. and so let me just move into this. so really to either one of you or both of you, and each of these questions i'm going to put some facts on the table for the public and you. according to your scc reports, the 2009 401(k), fannie mae reported $1 31 million losses, most were credit expenses, loan losses, which totaled more than $40 billion. if you look at the losses, very significantly, they come from loans with higher risk product features, alt-a, subprime, interest only, loan value of 90% plus, loans of fico, scores of less than 620. at the heart of it, looking back on that business decision, would you kind of go to the thinking behind -- your thinking behind as leaders of this organization that really the dramatic expansion in these higher risk products in the 2006, 2007 period. what was at the core of the decision to move more dramatically into that arena. just for the edification of you and others, i guess, as you look at l
mudd and mr. levin. we will now proceed to questioning my commissioners. i will start with some questions today before we move on. and so let me just move into this. so really to either one of you or both of you, and each of these questions i'm going to put some facts on the table for the public and you. according to your scc reports, the 2009 401(k), fannie mae reported $1 31 million losses, most were credit expenses, loan losses, which totaled more than $40 billion. if you look at the losses,...
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Apr 10, 2010
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thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. levin, proceed. >>one last item. you see a light in front of you. it will move to yellow with one minute to go and read when time is up. -- and red when time is up. [no audio] my >> if you could move the microphone a bit closer. is the light on? >> it needs to be closer. >> we will start your time over. >> that sounds better. start over. let's go. >> start over from scratch, sir? mr. chairman, vice chairman, distinguished commissioners, thank you for providing me the opportunity to appear before you today to assess the condition in examining the causes of the financial crisis. as you know, i submitted to the commission a written statement in advance of the hearing and i will not repeat the detailed explanations but i thought i would highlight my thoughts now. i am happy to provide whatever assistance i can and will do my best to answer all of your questions to the best of my ability. i was at fannie mae for 27 years until my retirement in 2008. while i let fannie mae prior to a takeover, i continue to work as an adviser to senior management for abou
thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. levin, proceed. >>one last item. you see a light in front of you. it will move to yellow with one minute to go and read when time is up. -- and red when time is up. [no audio] my >> if you could move the microphone a bit closer. is the light on? >> it needs to be closer. >> we will start your time over. >> that sounds better. start over. let's go. >> start over from scratch, sir? mr. chairman, vice chairman, distinguished...
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Apr 14, 2010
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levin, to schedule hearings on tax code simplification. the fair tax proposal is one of those ideas that i've asked his committee to consider. the fair tax can start the conversation on tax reform, and i encourage my colleagues who are serious about having this discussion to join me in contacting the chairman. people across the country are demanding that congress listen to their concerns and find a more equitable and less burdensome way of paying taxes. i share their frustration and have called upon my colleagues in congress to put the politics aside and provide tax relief and reform for this country. americans have made it known that they are in need of serious tax reform. through increased spending and budget deficits, congress has awaken and american majority that is dedicated to government reform. members of congress have an obligation to be responsive to our people's needs. as the american people gather this week to make their voices heard, congress must listen. these gatherings are occurring all over our country and here on capitol h
levin, to schedule hearings on tax code simplification. the fair tax proposal is one of those ideas that i've asked his committee to consider. the fair tax can start the conversation on tax reform, and i encourage my colleagues who are serious about having this discussion to join me in contacting the chairman. people across the country are demanding that congress listen to their concerns and find a more equitable and less burdensome way of paying taxes. i share their frustration and have called...
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Apr 19, 2010
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levin, senator levin. the ranking member is senator mccain. it was unanimously reported out by the committee. by all republicans and all democrats. it is a nomination supported by senator levin, senator mccain, the chairman and the ranking member. and, yet, that nomination was sent to the floor of the senate nearly six months ago and has yet to be acted upon because there is a hold on it. what is called a hold. i have spoken about this before last week. we have a member of the senate who said to the corps of engineers, i'm going to stop this general's promotion to major general until the corps of engineers does the following things that i demand from the corps of engineers in my home state in louisiana. this is senator vitter of louisiana. i did say to senator vitter, i would not come and speak of another senator until i told him i would do that. i told senator vitter i would be critical on the floor of the senate to what he was doing to general walsh. a patriot, someone who served 30 years for his country in the united states army. someone wh
levin, senator levin. the ranking member is senator mccain. it was unanimously reported out by the committee. by all republicans and all democrats. it is a nomination supported by senator levin, senator mccain, the chairman and the ranking member. and, yet, that nomination was sent to the floor of the senate nearly six months ago and has yet to be acted upon because there is a hold on it. what is called a hold. i have spoken about this before last week. we have a member of the senate who said...
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Apr 16, 2010
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but i don't know about mr. reich. >> it is mr. reich. >> mr. dochow? thank you. mr. reich, why don't you begin. >> good morning, chairman levin. i would like to say i'm delighted to be your but don't be a bit of an overstatement. in my retirement i would much rather be home reading the "washington post," thinking coffee and ruminate over the caps lost to montrÉal last night that i did retire in february of 2009, little over a year ago after a 49 year career. i was in the banking business for 25 years. i was ceo of the bank in sarasota for 12 years. i worked on capitol hill after we sold their banking organization. i moved to washington, d.c., went to work for senator connie mack, longtime friend and former banking colleague of mine, was his chief of staff for the last three years of his term in the united states senate. i was appointed to the board of directors of the fdic, served on the fdic board for eight years from 2001 through february, then of february, 2009. i served as the vice-chaivice chairman of the fdic for the first five years of my eight years on the b
but i don't know about mr. reich. >> it is mr. reich. >> mr. dochow? thank you. mr. reich, why don't you begin. >> good morning, chairman levin. i would like to say i'm delighted to be your but don't be a bit of an overstatement. in my retirement i would much rather be home reading the "washington post," thinking coffee and ruminate over the caps lost to montrÉal last night that i did retire in february of 2009, little over a year ago after a 49 year career. i was...
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Apr 17, 2010
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mr. bowman? >> good afternoon, chairman levin. my name is jo john bowman who was office of the thrift supervision a little over one year ago. during the height of the financial crisis after about five years as the agency's chief counsel. it is not a role that i sought. but i am honored to serve. my written testimony summarizes ots's supervision of washington mutual or wamu and the reasons why wamu failed. it is important to note that this failure came at no cost to the deposit insurance fund and at no cost to the american taxpayer. unlike recent failures of other financial institutions and the near collapse of some of the nation's largest banks, which were deemed too big to fail and, therefore, provided government assistance. the demise of the wamu of 200 banks and thrifts during this crisis. lifelines such as the treasury's t.a.r.p. program and the fdic's increase in the indeposit insurance coverage came too late for wamu. during the real estate boom before the crisis, wamu and other financial firms made a critical error by widel
mr. bowman? >> good afternoon, chairman levin. my name is jo john bowman who was office of the thrift supervision a little over one year ago. during the height of the financial crisis after about five years as the agency's chief counsel. it is not a role that i sought. but i am honored to serve. my written testimony summarizes ots's supervision of washington mutual or wamu and the reasons why wamu failed. it is important to note that this failure came at no cost to the deposit insurance...
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Apr 16, 2010
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mr. dohr? >> chairman levin, i'll be even more brief. i appreciate the opportunity to testify on my role with the fdic and the supervision of washington mutual bank, wamu. i am george dohr, deputy regional directer for the fdic in san francisco, a position which i have held since june of 2007. i've been with the fdic almost 40 years from september of 2002 until june of 2007 i was assistant regional directer for the fdic san francisco regional office. the san francisco region covers 11 states, washington, oregon, california, arizona, nevada, utah, idaho, wyoming, montana, alaska and hawaii. in addition to the territories of guam and american saw mow samoa and also micronesia. as assistant regional directer in those years among by responsibilities was our regional large bank program which included wamu. the three matters the subcommittee asked me to be prepared to address with respect to wamu are, one, nontraditional mortgage guidance, two, wamu's condition as assessed through the c.a.m.e.l.s. ratings and, three, fdic's large insured depos
mr. dohr? >> chairman levin, i'll be even more brief. i appreciate the opportunity to testify on my role with the fdic and the supervision of washington mutual bank, wamu. i am george dohr, deputy regional directer for the fdic in san francisco, a position which i have held since june of 2007. i've been with the fdic almost 40 years from september of 2002 until june of 2007 i was assistant regional directer for the fdic san francisco regional office. the san francisco region covers 11...
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Apr 14, 2010
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limit your oral testimony to more than five minutes and if it we will have you go first followed by mr. kissinger. >> thank you. chairman levin, a ranking member coburn and distinguished subcommittee members, thank you for inviting me to testify and sharing these remarks with you. this is my first public statement since the fbi washington mutual in september 2008. i want to be clear about the key factors that led to an elevated level of risk during the financial crisis. risks that were created over many years prior to my arrival at wamu in 2005. i also want to summarize how the team i was a part of recognized those risks and made solid progress and proactively reducing them. in particular i want to be very clear on the topic of high-risk lending the committee is focusing on today. high risk mortgage lending in wamu's caisse primero the option arms and subprimal loans through long beach mortgage subsidiary of wamu work expanded and accelerated at exclusive rates starting in the early 2000's prior to my hiring in 2005. in 2004 alone the year before i joined, option arms were up 124% and
limit your oral testimony to more than five minutes and if it we will have you go first followed by mr. kissinger. >> thank you. chairman levin, a ranking member coburn and distinguished subcommittee members, thank you for inviting me to testify and sharing these remarks with you. this is my first public statement since the fbi washington mutual in september 2008. i want to be clear about the key factors that led to an elevated level of risk during the financial crisis. risks that were...
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Apr 26, 2010
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mr. bowman. >> good afternoon, chairman levin. my name is john bowman, i am a career federal employee. during the height of the financial crisis after about five years as the agency's chief counsel. it is not a role that i sought, but i am honored to serve. my written testimony summarizes ots' supervision of washington mutual or wamu and the reasons why wamu failed. it is important to note that this failure came rat no cost -- came at no cost to the deposit insurance fund and to the taxpayer. unlike the near collapse of some of the nation's largest banks which were deemed too big to fail and, therefore, provided government assistance. the demise of wamu came early in the procession of more than 200 banks and thrifts that have closed during this crisis. lifelines, such as the treasury's t.a.r.p. program and the fdic's increase in deposit insurance coverage, came too late for wamu. during the real estate boom before the crisis, wamu and other financial firms made a critical error by widely underwriting home mortgages based more on t
mr. bowman. >> good afternoon, chairman levin. my name is john bowman, i am a career federal employee. during the height of the financial crisis after about five years as the agency's chief counsel. it is not a role that i sought, but i am honored to serve. my written testimony summarizes ots' supervision of washington mutual or wamu and the reasons why wamu failed. it is important to note that this failure came rat no cost -- came at no cost to the deposit insurance fund and to the...
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Apr 27, 2010
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. >> my time is up, mr. chairman. >> senator mccaskill, thank you. >>> mr. sparks, i would like to follow up on a question that chairman levin asked you in his first series of questioning. what he said was, do you have a responsibility to disclose to a client when you have an adverse interest, do you have a responsibility to disclose to a client when you have an adverse interest to the client? what's the answer to that? >> and senator, by adverse interest, you mean a position that is different than them? or tlg something that we could effect that could harm them? if it's the positions, our answer is no. if we can do harm to them, then the answer is absolutely. >> so you do have, at least in some contexts, but not all, a responsibility to disclose to a client when you have an adverse interest to the client? >> i mean, senator, i'm just trying to be careful with my words with respect to what "adverse interest" could mean. if we were positioned a certain way, that's one thing. again, we could have positions, there could be other positions at the firm. >> do you
. >> my time is up, mr. chairman. >> senator mccaskill, thank you. >>> mr. sparks, i would like to follow up on a question that chairman levin asked you in his first series of questioning. what he said was, do you have a responsibility to disclose to a client when you have an adverse interest, do you have a responsibility to disclose to a client when you have an adverse interest to the client? what's the answer to that? >> and senator, by adverse interest, you mean a...
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Apr 22, 2010
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mr. welch: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 10 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so approved. mr. defazio: well, all america has heard about too big to fail and they're still pretty angry about that in the bailout of wall street. now there is a new deal with lexicon thanks to goldman sachs and that is designed to fail for profit. goldman sachs worked with a hedge fund manager who put together a collateralize debt obligation that he hand picked because he thought they would fail. goldman got a fee for putting them together, goldman sold him insurance or bets against him and then goldman sold to unknowing investors those same securities
mr. welch: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 10 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so approved. mr. defazio: well, all america has...
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Apr 21, 2010
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expedite mr. filner's bill and that it be brought to the floor so that we can correct this error in the president's health bill so that we may cover the widows and/or fans and the -- and/or fanns -- and orphans. that would correct the error and i think that needs to be done. i hoped that mr. filner's bill would have included in the bill which we are presently considering, that would have cleaned this up now. but that didn't occur. every opportunity i have taken to try to correct this error and for whatever reason it just doesn't get done. it needs to be done. i think it was an error in the drafting. no one intended for widows and orr fans -- orphans be left out. i believe it was unintentional. it is a real issue and we need to correct it. so i'm hopeful that's going to do that. i want to thank the chairman for his leadership to correct that error. i would ask my colleagues to pass the bill that's before us and i want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle for all their efforts in the bill.
expedite mr. filner's bill and that it be brought to the floor so that we can correct this error in the president's health bill so that we may cover the widows and/or fans and the -- and/or fanns -- and orphans. that would correct the error and i think that needs to be done. i hoped that mr. filner's bill would have included in the bill which we are presently considering, that would have cleaned this up now. but that didn't occur. every opportunity i have taken to try to correct this error and...
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Apr 21, 2010
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caller: i turned on the television, i listened to mr. chambliss, and republicans love to use fannie and freddie as a whipping boy. if he would just go to c-span and look of the hearings that carl levin had with washington mutual, he could readily learn that many of the subprime loans, alt-a loans, all of thoseloan ls that should never have been made went directly to wall street. it was only late in the game that fannie and freddie got involved. i resent congressmen who like to use them as whipping boys when they themselves do not even know that the early loans went directly to wall street, wall street and bought them up, and the government was not involved. bush actually encouraged fannie and freddie to buy those loans in order to keep the real state ball rolling. host: back to the article in the "washington post" talking about the change in tone -- jim on the republican line. silver spring, maryland. caller: i think what is needed in the area of financial reform, in addition to everything else that has been suggested, we need a form of
caller: i turned on the television, i listened to mr. chambliss, and republicans love to use fannie and freddie as a whipping boy. if he would just go to c-span and look of the hearings that carl levin had with washington mutual, he could readily learn that many of the subprime loans, alt-a loans, all of thoseloan ls that should never have been made went directly to wall street. it was only late in the game that fannie and freddie got involved. i resent congressmen who like to use them as...
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Apr 17, 2010
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basil ii, all of these things were going on but that is what scares me mr. reich. okey you've got to understand the environment. it's the environment. everybody was doing it. you have to understand that and my basic thinking is it that is where we are then senator levin and i are on a fool's errand to try to straighten this out. if every time something gets to be popular and every time people are making a lot of money, people like a lot of money my normal response would be i ought to look at that. that is it reassuring to me. >> i think lessons have been learned from what we have been through. >> thank you. mr. dochow? >> one observation i would offer is i've always believed that companies such as banks were ensured by the fdic when a taxpayer is ultimately on the hook for to have a special standard, special crete of some type in their performance in part of to be measured by that standard to the customer to the public interest would tell you in my career i've been dismayed at how much from ceos and even small community banks using the only responsibility was to sh
basil ii, all of these things were going on but that is what scares me mr. reich. okey you've got to understand the environment. it's the environment. everybody was doing it. you have to understand that and my basic thinking is it that is where we are then senator levin and i are on a fool's errand to try to straighten this out. if every time something gets to be popular and every time people are making a lot of money, people like a lot of money my normal response would be i ought to look at...
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Apr 26, 2010
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as you know, mr. chairman, as you in the chair know, and i, we have differences with this bill. you and senator levin have an amendment you want to offer, that i'm a cosponsor to change the bill. i have an amendment with senator brown, senator brown from ohio to make changes in the bill. senator cantwell and senator mccain have a bill that i'm a cosponsor. there are three amendments already that i'm in favor of that are amendments. i've heard chairman dodd say time and again, this is not the perfect bill. this is a bipartisan bill. we put a lot of effort into it. he's welcomed the opportunity for people to come forward and offer amendments. now, i don't get it how you can say that you don't agree with the bill but you're not going to let anything happen on it. and on an issue like this. an issue that's so important to the american people. so important that we get it right. it's time. committees are great. i support the committee system. i think it's wonderful. i think negotiations are great. i think the bipartisan negotiations going on -- and i know they're going on because i've
as you know, mr. chairman, as you in the chair know, and i, we have differences with this bill. you and senator levin have an amendment you want to offer, that i'm a cosponsor to change the bill. i have an amendment with senator brown, senator brown from ohio to make changes in the bill. senator cantwell and senator mccain have a bill that i'm a cosponsor. there are three amendments already that i'm in favor of that are amendments. i've heard chairman dodd say time and again, this is not the...